This invention relates generally to improvements in the lacing assembly for an article of footwear, and more particularly to an improved lacing assembly for an article of footwear which provides lace-locking eyelets to permit the lace to be adjusted and maintained and also, with respect to footwear having upper and lower sections, the assembly provides a system of lace-locking eyelets in which lower and upper vamp sections can be selectively adjusted and maintained to fit different portions of the foot independently while utilizing a continuous single lace between said vamp sections.
Three prior patents of particular interest in this field are U.S. Pat. No. 3,546,796, U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,998 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,367. All three patents are commonly owned by the owner of this invention.
In the first patent an athletic shoe is disclosed having separate, or split, lower and upper vamp sections. In this shoe, each vamp section includes a separate lace and, while it is intended that each vamp section can be adjusted to suit separate portions of the foot, there are disadvantages in using separate laces for each vamp since this results in having four lace ends and two bows on each shoe. The second patent overcomes this problem to some extent by providing a single continuous lace which extends between split upper and lower vamp section and a central clamp which is disposed between the upper and lower vamp section for selectively adjusting the fit. This lacing arrangement overcomes aforementioned problem of having additional lace ends and bows but the single centralized clamp provided on each shoe is somewhat complicated and requires more manual dexterity to operate than is desirable in some cases. The third patent is the closest known prior art and disclosed a continuous lace extending between multiple split vamp sections. At the upper end of the lower vamp section opposed lace-receiving locking means are provided in the form of D-ring connectors. While this is an effective locking means it requires the use of special attachment locking means.